Amazon finally has a colour Kindle – but you’ll have to wait a while to get a Kindle Colorsoft Down Under

Amazon’s refreshed its Kindle lineup from top to bottom, including its first colour Kindle e-reader, but if you’re keen on the Kindle Colorsoft, don’t expect to see it under your Christmas tree this year.

Amazon overnight announced a refresh of its Kindle e-reader lineup with new basic Amazon Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Scribe models, as well as the company’s first colour e-ink Kindle, the Kindle Colorsoft.

Kindle Colorsoft: Like a Kindle, but with (soft) colour… erm… color.

OK, Amazon’s a US company, so I guess I have to let it use the American spelling there. The big story here is of course colour, making it a potentially good deal for those who like lots of illustrations, comic books or just staring at the cover pages of their existing Kindle libraries.

The Kindle Colorsoft has a 7 inch display with an array of nitride LEDs that Amazon claims will enhance colours (or are they colors?) with higher contrast and less bleeding between different colour types, though based on some of the US hands-on sessions I’ve seen, what we’re looking at here is more of a muted set of colours (colors?), which maybe makes sense of the naming convention having “soft” at the end of its name.

You might think that the inclusion of colour (color?) would mean that it could be Amazon’s first Kindle with lousy battery life, but according to the company it’ll run for up to 8 weeks before needing recharging – and when you do recharge it, it apparently supports Qi wireless charging too.

However, you did read the headline, right? The Kindle Colorsoft will launch in the US from the 30th of October, but we won’t see it in Australia until “2025” according to Amazon Australia.

There’s also no sign of local pricing, though it’s not that hard to work out likely pricing based on US list price. It’s US$280, which would equate to around $420 AUD. Add in our 10% GST, and we’re probably looking at around $460-$470. Will that be worth it for colour (color?)? I’ve put in a request for a review unit, but I can expect that even if that happens it won’t be for a while.

New Kindle Scribe: Do you like to scribble?

The Kindle Scribe gets a refresh with a second generation model that comes with a 10.2 inch display with a new white border; the idea here is that it’s meant to look a lot more like a sheet of paper than anything else.

There’s also a new premium pen to go with the Kindle Scribe, though this will be sold as a separate item at $129 over the Kindle Scribe’s $649 asking price. I’m not entirely sure why you’d buy the Kindle Scribe and not buy the Pen outside of maybe if you just wanted a really big e-reader.

New features include Active Canvas for scribbling down notes in supported books and having the text flow around it and cleaner text transcription of your handwriting.

The Kindle Scribe will sell in two colour finishes, Tungsten and Metallic Jade, though the latter will only be available through Amazon locally. This one we will see this side of Christmas with local availability from the 4th of December, which is also when it launches in the US.

Want to pre-order a Kindle Scribe? You can do so at this link.

Want the new Kindle Scribe Premium Pen? It’s also up for pre-order in Australia here.

I reviewed the first generation Kindle Scribe a few months back; you can read my full review here.

New Kindle Paperwhite: Are you a speed reader?

The Kindle Paperwhite still sits as Amazon’s slightly-more-than-premium option (that’s the basic Kindle, more on that shortly), and the big improvement here as per Amazon is in page turning speed, with the promise of 25% faster page turns – or in more basic terms, because this is an e-ink reader, it’s got a faster refresh and processing rate that renders each new page more rapidly if you’ve found that a problem on an existing Kindle paperwhite.

There’s also a fancier model of Kindle Paperwhite, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. This doubles the Kindle Paperwhite’s 16GB of storage up to 32GB (which is a lot of eBooks; they’re quite small files mostly), while also adding optional wireless charging and an auto-adjusting front light.

These you wouldn’t have to wait for, however, as they’re available from Amazon Australia from today. The regular Kindle Paperwhite comes in a black finish for $299, while the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition will run you $329 in either Metallic Black or Metallic Jade.

Want a Kindle Paperwhite through Amazon Australia? Pick one up at this link.

More keen on a Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition? It’s available in Australia from today via this link!

Yes, these are affiliate links, I’ve got to keep the lights on somehow. Moving on…

New Kindle: Faster, Brighter… Greener?

The entry level for the Amazon Kindle range is… well, it’s the Amazon Kindle. Yeah, I’m as shocked as you are.

The new model features an enhanced front light that Amazon says is as bright as the Kindle Paperwhite (so it’s a… Paperwhite?) and promises faster page turns, though presumably not quite as nippy as the paperwhite. It’s the smallest Kindle with a 6 inch display, and comes in the standard-forever Kindle Black colour as well as a new Matcha colour if you’re a fan of green hues.

Like the Kindle Paperwhite, the 2024 Amazon Kindle is available from today from Amazon Australia, priced at $199.

You can support ART and pick up a 2024 Amazon Kindle from this link if you’re keen.

Amazon Kindle Colorsoft/Kindle Scribe/Kindle Paperwhite/Kindle: Alex’s Thoughts

There’s basically just Amazon and Kobo left in the eBook market, and in terms of market recognition, it does feel like Amazon’s got the better general consumer recognition, even if it’s not first to market with a colour e-ink reader.

Kindles to me have always felt like devices you’re best replacing when the old one dies out completely, and most of what Amazon’s done here are smaller point refreshes rather than approaches that (on e-ink paper) demand replacing a good working unit per se. Still, the timing this close to Christmas isn’t coincidental, even if we’re not getting the Kindle Colorsoft down under this year.

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